I Think I Love You
by FoxGoddess2416
Summary: A story about a girl's journey through the shinobi world through hurt, friendship, romance, and adventure. Sasuke/OC. Edited.  To see character info go to the second url on my profile.
1. The Massacre

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.**

**I only own Hitomi and the Yin clan.**

It was a beautiful summer evening. A few weeks after my birthday, I had just turned six. I just went out to pick some flowers in a field a little ways out of my clan's compound.

_Wow I bet mommy will love these!_ I thought happily.

As I'm going back home through the forest I suddenly hear a scream. It was my aunt's.

"Auntie!" I screamed. So I ran. I'm running as fast as my little legs can carry me back to the compound, and in front of me are kunai, shuriken, blood and dead bodies everywhere...The dead bodies of my clan members. I run to my house desperately hoping that my parents are alright.

"Mommy! Daddy!" I scream looking around my dark house.

"Baby, baby where are you?"

"I'm here mommy." My mother comes with Bara (my mom's best friend who's from another clan).

"Hitomi, baby, go with Bara, ok go with Bara." She says frantically.

"Why, mommy? What's going on? Where's daddy?" I ask looking around for my missing father.

"Never mind that honey just go with Bara through the secret escape that leads out of the compound and run, run as fast as you can and don't look back and no matter what I'll always love you, I always have."

"But mommy, aren't you coming?"

"No baby I can't, now go! Quick!" My mom says while giving Bara my book bag.

"Bye mommy." I say before a quick good bye hug and kiss.

"Come on, let's go." Bara says morbidly.

As I'm in the secret escape with Bara and I hear someone. "Well, well who do we have here, one of the clan's leaders? When I'm done killing you the whole clan will be dead, but before I do that I want to know where that little MONSTER of yours is?"

"Ha, you'll never find her, she's already long gone from here." My mom says tauntingly.

"Oh well I guess we'll just have to look for her then."

When I look to see whose talking I see that it's Atsushi.

_If he's part of one of our ally clans, then why is he attacking us?_

So I watch them battle, the fight seems unending when in actuality it only really last a few minutes but then when I seemed that my mother would win after dealing a critical hit to Atsushi someone comes and stabs mom in the back. As she turns around to kill him Atsushi slits her throat with a sadistic smile adorned across his face.

_No mom, please, no, don't leave me!_ I bite my lip trying to hold down my scream.

I leave through the entrance with Bara and we're running and just as we're coming near the forest I look back and see the compound on fire.

As Bara and I run through the forest I hear people talking and apparently Bara does to. So she gives me my bag and tells me to run as fast as I can southeast until I reach the Hidden Leaf Village. Unfortunately my curiosity got the better of me a convinced me to hide in the brush just outside of the clearing to see what would befall Bara.

"Now, now where do you think you're going?" Atsushi asks.

"What do you want?"

"We just want to know where that monster is."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh I'm pretty sure you know what we're talking about. Now I'll ask you one more time, where is she?"

"I'LL NEVER TELL YOU!"

"Fine we'll find her ourselves." With that all the men that surrounded Bara lunged at her. With Bara on the offensive she couldn't get any hits in to back the men away and with about 20 men against her it looked like the odds were against Bara. With one more powerful blow to the head Bara was down and she didn't get up

_No Bara not you too!_ I slip away as quickly and as quietly as I possibly can with my mind still reeling with the occurrences that had happened tonight.

I keep running even as it turns from night to dawn, even though every muscle in my body ached I still keep running, until I see huge village gates. I went in seeing no one, not even the guards I guess it was because it was too early and they were probably switching people.

_Wow I didn't think I'd be here so soon I thought that it took a couple of days to get to the Village Hidden in the Leaves._ But tossing that thought away I went into the forest, lay under a tree and tried to go to sleep but with some difficulty as I thought of all the horrible things that happened tonight. I finally succeeded after thinking one last thought.

_Good bye mom and dad, I'll miss you._


	2. A New Family

"Wake up, wake up." Said a faraway voice along with a few light nudges to my arm.

"Hm, mom five more minutes." I moaned as I rolled over away from the person I assumed was my mom.

"Little girl I am not your mother." Someone said as they chuckled.

That sure got me awake. I snapped my eyes open and looked around to notice that I'm not in my bed and that last night really did happen, and that it wasn't just some nightmare.

"Hello I am the Fifth Hokage leader of the village hidden in the leaves, and who are you?" Said a voice breaking me out of my thoughts. He was an old man wearing white and red robes with a matching hat with the kanji for fire on the front.

"I'm Hitomi, why am I here?"

"I saw you under a tree and decided to take you home so I can take care of you until I can get your parents to get you, by the way where are they?"

"Oh, thank you but, my parents...are dead."

"I'm so sorry, how would you like to live here with me?"

"Thank you."

"It's not a problem, call me Sarutobi or father from now on, this will be your bedroom. Would you like to go out and get some ramen?"

"Sure."

"Good then after I'd like to introduce you to someone, his name is Konohamaru, he's my grandson."

"Ok."

"Be down in 10 minutes and then we'll go."

"Ok." So he leaves.

_Well better unpack. _ I think as I sigh.

I unpack the things I had brought, like clothes, some pictures, and my favorite stuffed animal, a rabbit named Kioshi. I put away all my stuff but hide the pictures under my bed. I look around my bedroom and notice 2 doors. One's a closet while the other is a bathroom. So I wash my hands and face cleaning away all the dirt from my traveling and go downstairs to see Sarutobi waiting for me.

"Ready to go?" He asks.

"Yes"

We walk to a ramen stand called Ichiraku's Ramen. As I'm eating my chicken ramen he tells me everything about Konoha, everything from its history to its people. He even went as far as to explain to me what a kage does seeing as my old village doesn't have a kage.

"What's the matter?" He asks me as he notices my slightly sullen face.

"Oh nothing, it's just overwhelming that's all."

Even though that was a small reason for being so quiet I didn't want to tell him the whole reason since I didn't really know him. Once we were done we walked around the village while he pointed at the different landmarks of the village. The one I found most intriguing was the Hokage Monument, which held all the faces of the previous Hokage this village had. By the end of our walk we ended at some house.

"This is where my son and his family lives, I thought you might like to meet them." He explained seeing my confused face. When we got inside I was introduced to a man, a woman and a toddler whose name was Konohamaru.

I had been playing with Konohamaru for a few hours. Apparently he took a liking to me seeing as he would tug my hair and shout 'Himey' because he couldn't pronounce the 't' in my name which made him mess up on the rest of my name. All the while I was getting to know the family around me that I was now a part of. After a little bit longer Sarutobi and I left and went back home with the promise with coming back soon to visit. But not before Ayame (I'm making her Konohamaru's mother and Ryota is his father, they do NOT exist in the real Naruto series) gave me some of her old clothes and told me that she would take me shopping the following day. When we got home we said good night and I took a shower, brushed my teeth, put on my pajamas and went to bed.


	3. Training

A week later I went to Sarutobi's office. Only to find out that he wasn't there, which was peculiar seeing as he spent most of the day there. As I turned around to leave, the sunlight glinted off of something shiny on the desk, catching my eye. Turning back around I swiftly made my way up to the desk to see a bunch of weapons carefully laid out across the desk. There were three types; throwing knives, a star-like object with pointy edges and a long gleaming sword. _Wow_. I thought in amazement and slight fear as I recalled **that **night. "Be careful with those, you might hurt yourself." Said a voice breaking me out of my reverie. "What are they?" I asked, not remembering the names of the weapons that were used so much in my clan. "Well those are kunai, these are shuriken, and this is a katana." He said as pointed to each one. "Do you know what they do?" "I think so, don't ninjas use them?" "You're correct, ninjas use these weapons to hit their targets." He said as he demonstrated by picking up a kunai and throwing it at the wall. "Sarutobi can I have this?" I asked as I picked up the katana and experimentally swung it but almost knocked over a stack of papers from the unexpected weight. "I don't know. I'll tell you what, I'll give you this kunai to practice with and when you master this I'll give you a shuriken and when you master that I'll give you this katana. Deal?" He said as he stroked his beard. "Okay." I said with a small smile as I took the kunai and left his office.

After I left the office I went to the training grounds to practice with the kunai. My first try hit the ground right in front of the tree. My second try hit the bottom of the tree. After a few more tries I had finally reached the middle ring on the bulls-eye that I had set up. _Ugh why can't I do this?_ I thought frustrated as I threw the kunai, only for it to hit the middle ring again after spending hours practicing. _What am I doing wrong? Wait a minute._ I thought as I ran through the movements on how I threw the kunai without actually throwing it. _Hm, there must be difference between how I throw the kunai and how Sarutobi throws one._ I thought as I looked back on my memory of Sarutobi throwing it. His stance, how his elbow bended, his finger movements, everything. This was easier to remember in fuller detail than other people because of my photographic memory. _Well his arm stopped moving when it got in front of him, and his fingers were wrapped around the handle like this._ I thought as I readjusted my hand and fixed my elbow. "Alright let's give it a try." I said as I stepped back and threw the kunai at the target. Only for it to hit two more rings toward the bulls-eye. _Ugh I've been out here for hours and I still can't get the stupid bulls-eye!_ I thought as I glared frustrated at the target. _Hm if it's not my movements then maybe it's the speed and force._

So for a few more hours I experimented with different amounts of force that could be used for throwing a kunai, and how it affected its speed. By the time the sun was setting I had managed to get 6 out of 10 bulls-eyes. _Yes I finally did it, albeit it still needs some work but I still did it non-the-less._ I thought with pride. _Huh, it's getting late…How long have I been out here? Whatever, might as well go home, don't want Sarutobi to worry._ I thought as I watched the sun slowly go down. I grabbed the kunai and the target and quickly ran home for dinner.

Timeskip: A Few Weeks Later

I had finally managed throwing the kunai and had proved it to Sarutobi, who in turn gave me more kunai to practice with. By this point in time I have already pretty much mastered throwing multiple kunai from both hands, with the occasional miss from time to time. Sarutobi assured me that I wouldn't be able to perfectly hit the bulls-eye until I was older and had practiced for many more years. But as compensation for practically mastering it he gave me some shuriken to practice with.

"Alright. Go!" I said as I quickly threw my kunai and shuriken all around me. They all hit the bulls-eye except for the occasional two or three misses. _Hm, almost perfect._ I thought with pride as I grabbed all my weapons and targets and headed home for dinner after spending most of the day training. When I reached my house I went upstairs and put away my weapons then hopped down the stairs into the dining room to see the food that was awaiting me, along with Sarutobi.

While we were eating we were having random conversations from how our day went to Sarutobi's worst enemy…paperwork. All of a sudden a question I had not expected came up. "Hitomi how would you like to go to the academy. You're very good." "Really I can be a ninja?" "Haha, hold on there you still need to graduate from the academy to become a ninja. But yes you can go. Besides all that training you do will catch you up with the other children. So do you want to?" "Yes thank you Sarutobi." I said with a small smile that I had not given in what seemed like a very long time. "Good, so class starts at 8, you know where the academy is right?" I nodded. "Good so wake up early and I won't be there to wake you up thought, I'll be at the office." He shuddered at the thought of tackling his mountain sized stack of paperwork. "Okay." I said as I finished eating and said good night as I went upstairs. I brushed my teeth, put on my pajamas, set my alarm and went to sleep, all the while thinking about how my first day at the academy will be.


	4. First Day At The Academy

"**BEEP, BEEP, BEE-"** _Ugh how annoying, why did I even turn that thing on for anyway? Oh yea today is my first day at the academy. Joy. _I thought sarcastically as I did my morning routine and got my new books and lunch together into my bag. "Ugh I hat mornings!" I moaned as I finished getting my stuff read at 7:45. As you can plainly see I **really** dislike mornings. _I guess I have to leave now._ I thought as I looked at the clock. I put on my boots and leave.

By the time I got to my classroom it was 8:00. _Great now I'm late. People are so useless sometimes._ And as though to prove my point everyone that I had asked for help in reaching my destination all gave me bad directions on how to get to the academy and to my classroom. _Well here I go._ I opened the door and saw twenty-something children and one man all turn their attention towards me. _Oh God._ I usually like to stay back and observe. The reason for this is too see beyond what is shown. At first glance you might find out little things about people, like the way they dress is because they feel insecure or because they can't afford new clothes, but if you observe someone for enough time you can understand what makes them tick, and in enough time you can get to know them almost as well as they know themselves, and all just by observing. "Hello you must be my new student. I'm Iruka, your new sensei. What's your name?" "Hitomi" I simply replied as I timidly glanced around the room at all the curious stares I was getting from my fellow classmates. "Well Hitomi you can sit over there next to Hinata." He said as he pointed over at a girl with short blue/black hair and lavender, pupil-less eyes. As I walked to my seat I felt eyes on me. As I turned I saw some of the boys in my class staring at me and blushing. _Huh what's with them?_

Half-way through class Iruka-sensei said "Ok kids lunch time." The moment those words left his mouth he class divided into two groups. One went outside to enjoy their free time. While the other group quickly swarmed over to my desk asking me questions and introducing themselves a mile-a-minute. "Hi I'm Kiba Inuzuka and this is Akamaru." Said a boy with shaggy-ish brown hair, slight fang-like canines, and a red triangle on each cheek as he held up a small white puppy who 'arfed' in response. "Hi" Came my reply to the boy and his puppy. "Hi I'm Ino Yamanaka and-" "I'm Sakura Haruno." Said two girls, one had short, blonde hair and blue pupil-less eyes, while the other girl who interrupted her had equally short pink hair and emerald green eyes. "Hey I'm Shikamaru Nara." Said a boy with his hair in a spiky ponytail, in a lazy voice. "Hi I'm Chōji Akimichi." This time a chubby boy came over and stood next to 'Shikamaru'. Another boy came over. _Damn, how many people are going to come over?_ He wore round sunglasses and wore a high collar shirt. "My name is Shino Aburame." He said in an almost monotonous voice but still had that childish ring to it. "HI I'M NARUTO UZUMAKI!" Screamed a voice behind me. I quickly turned round in shock and found a boy with spiky blonde hair, cerulean blue eyes, three whisker-like marks on both cheeks and a huge smile spread across his face as he jumped up and down in the prospect of making a friend. Another boy came up next to him with a timid yet excited smile across his face. This boy had raven black hair that spiked up in the back, onyx eyes and pale skin. "Hi I'm Sasuke Uchiha." He said with a light blush that covered his cheeks as he looked into my eyes. _Haha his hair looks like a duck's butt._ I thought as I lightly giggled into my hand making him blush more. "Hi it's nice to meet you all." I said as I returned all their smiles with a small one of my own.

When everyone had finally left I started packing my books and taking out my lunch when a meek voice brought me to a halt. "H-h-h-hi I-I-I'm H-Hinata Hyūga." I turned around to look at the owner of the voice only to find the girl I was sitting next to in class. "Hi" I said a bit unsurely of how to approach the timid girl. "W-would you l-like to have l-lunch with m-me?" She said as she twiddled her fingers nervously. I was shocked to hear that, I mean yea the kids from before were nice but for someone to want me with them, me, the new girl, the girl nobody liked in my old village, to say I was shocked was an understatement. "I-it's ok i-if y-you don't w-want to, I w-was just w-wondering." She said in a dejected tone as she thought my stunned silence was me rejecting her invitation. As she started to leave I quickly brought my hand up to stop her. "Wait!" I quickly realized what I did when she turned around. "I would really like to have lunch with you." I said as I fought down a blush that was starting to rise from my previous outburst. "O-oh okay, f-follow me." She said surprised as I quickly finished putting away my stuff and followed her out of the classroom.

We walked into the forest nearby and into a clearing. We laid out our lunches and started eating while talking a bit when suddenly I hear two sets of footsteps enter our clearing. "Oh hey guys, mind if we join you?" We turned around only to be greeted by Shikamaru and Chōji. "It's fine with me, what about you Hinata?" I said as I turned to my finger-twiddling friend. "Um y-yeah s-s-sure."

We spent the whole lunch sitting in that clearing and talking. Thankfully they didn't ask me about where I used to live or what happened before I came to this village. We mostly talked about random stuff like what we liked, what we dislike, our hobbies, things like that.

I found out that Hinata was from the main house in her clan. She is very shy and has nervous ticks from time to time like twiddling her fingers, or putting her hands up in front of her when she feels nervous or in a hostile situation.

Shikamaru is a lazy guy who enjoys sleeping or watching the clouds. He often found things troublesome and would often point it out by saying 'How troublesome' or 'What a drag'. He is also incredibly smart and has won every match of shogi that he has ever played.

Chōji is a very kind, polite, loyal, and caring person. He was also more of a lover than a fighter. But if you called him fat he'd try and beat the crap out of you. He also loved food, especially barbeque.

What surprised me was that I was really opening up to them. In the short time I've known them I feel like I can really trust them. What probably contributed to this was that they listened to every word I said and didn't judge me just for being the new girl. Just then a bell rang clear throughout the area. "Huh, it sounds like lunch is over." Shikamaru said as he stood up and dusted himself off.

As we got up and grabbed our stuff we made our way out of the clearing, through the small patch of forest that lay next to the academy and went into the classroom. Only to be lead out and into the training grounds 10 minutes later with rest of the class and Iruka-sensei leading the way.

"Ok kids today we're going to learn how to aim and correctly throw a kunai. So watch what I do and try to copy it and I'll come by and help." Iruka-sensei said as he demonstrated by throwing his kunai at one of the logs that were set up. He went around and passed a few kunai to everyone as they found their stumps to train with. As he went around checking up on everyone's progress I walked up to my stump and carved a little target on it. I don't know why but it always helps me to have a target on what I'm aiming at. Hopefully it's just a phase that I'll soon grow out of.

As Iruka-sensei comes to me I get into my stance and threw all three of my kunai at the mini target. They all hit perfectly. "Wow Hitomi good job! How did you do so well on your first try?" He asked curiously as he looked disbelievingly at me and the stump. "I practice a lot." Came my simple reply. "Oh okay, hey since you've got it down so well why don't you go help the others?" "Ok"

I walked around looking at all the other kids trying and corrected some of them. Some of them would do alright, while the others would miss most of the time. All of a sudden I hear a frustrated groan a little farther down the line of kids. As I made my way towards the source of the noise I found out that it was Sasuke who had made the noise. He was standing up with his arms to his sides and his hands clenched. He stared angrily at his stump that had his kunai embedded into it very low, almost to the ground. "You're doing it wrong." I said. He jumped and whirled around looking at me with a startled look. "Huh?" He said as he finally snapped out of it. "Let me see how you throw it." "Uh okay." He said nervously as he plucked his kunai from the log without question. As he got into his stance I noticed that his upper body was at an odd angle. When he threw the kunai his arm went from his upper left to the lower right hand of his body, causing the kunai to fly lower. I walked over and retrieved his kunai and said, "Okay there's a few things wrong. First is your stance, don't move your upper body like that, keep it at a comfortable angle, it'll put less strain on your abdominal muscles." "Uh okay?" He said unsurely. "Your stomach." I clarified. The only reason I knew this was because Sarutobi recommended that I become a medical ninja in the future, which resulted in me spending hours reading medical books at the library.

"Next is your arm placement, it's much easier to stay in a straight, horizontal line. Lastly is your timing, wait until you're right next to your target then let it go. With your speed and your arm still in motion the kunai should hit its mark." I explained calmly as he looked at his kunai unsurely. "Here let me help." I said as I walked up behind him and put his body against mine. "Here, like this." I said as I grabbed his hand and went through the motions with him until he memorized them. When I stepped away I noticed that he was blushing again and was looking at the ground. I felt eyes boring into my back so I turned around and found some girls glaring at me. _Huh, weird._

"Ok now try it on your own now." I said as I stepped back to give him some room. He nodded at me and got ready to throw the kunai. He went through the steps I taught him and threw the kunai. By the way he was smiling I could tell that he had hit his mark. "Good job, with more practice throwing will become second nature to you." I said with a small grin. Before he could voice his gratitude Iruka yelled, "Alright class good job, class dismissed." I quickly grabbed my stuff and left to go home to tell Sarutobi about my first day at the academy.


	5. The Incident

_If it's not one thing it's the other isn't it?_ I thought as I glared at the stream of light that had managed to escape through my blinds and into my eyes. "Alright I'm up, geez." I muttered as I slowly got out of bed. I did my morning routine and was out the door by 7:15 munching on my apple.

By 7:25 I arrived at the academy to find it almost deserted, save for the teachers that were finishing up grading papers. So with nothing better to do I sat down and stared out the window. Ten minutes into my silent utopia I heard footsteps outside coming towards the door and the faint sounds of voices. Both were both but one of them had a higher pitched voice than the other. I turned back around and stared back out the window as the mystery people came through the door.

**Sasuke's POV:**

"Thanks big brother for walking me to class." I said as I beamed up at my brother. "You're welcome Sasuke- huh?" Itachi said/asked. But I wasn't listening because I saw someone sitting at the other side of the classroom. _Hey who's over there? I think that's Hitomi. Why's she here so early?_ I thought as I blankly stared at her.

**Itachi's POV:**

_Huh, what's wrong with Sasuke?_ I thought as I saw him turn red. I saw him starring at the other side of the classroom, as I turned to see what it was I saw that it was a little girl that was Sasuke's age. "Hey, Sasuke, who's that?" I asked even though I already had a hunch on who it was. "Oh that's Hitomi." He said, never taking his eyes of her. "Oh the one you told us about." "Y-yea" He said as he turned even redder. _Heh, looks like he has his first crush._ I thought as I tried to hide my snickers. "Well why don't we go over there and talk to her?" I suggested. "Oh, um, I don't know." He said unsurely. "Come on." I said as I took his hand and led him to the girl.

"Hi Hitomi." Sasuke said timidly as he half hid behind my leg. "Hello." She finally replied as if we had snapped her out of her reverie. "This is my big brother, Itachi." He said as he finally came out of 'hiding' and pointed at me. "Hello." I said as I smiled at her. "Hello." She simply replied. _Hmm, I expected her to start bouncing off the walls when we came over. She's not like the other little girls her age._ I thought as I stared at her.

All of a sudden I heard the kids running towards the door, and into the room. "Ok Sasuke I have to go." "Ok, bye Itachi." He said looking a little sad but then perking up as he saw the other kids. "Bye Sasuke, good-bye Hitomi." I said as I waved good-bye. "Good-bye." She said as she lazily waved at me. _She definitely isn't like the other kids._ I thought as I walked out the door.

**Sasuke's POV:**

The day went by like any other until lunchtime. "Ok kids, lunchtime." Iruka-sensei said as he looked at the clock that was mounted on the wall at the back of the classroom. _I wonder if Hitomi wants to have lunch with me today._ I thought as I turned towards her seat, only to find her seat empty. _She must have left already. Oh well._ I thought sadly.

Halfway through lunch I was walking down a pathway behind the academy that just bordered the forest. The sun was shining, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. That's when I heard them… the fangirls. (Dun, Dun, Dun) "Oh no." I whispered, petrified of them. So I did the most sensible thing to do in my situation… I ran. I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me. I looked back to see if they were still following me and to my relief they were far behind me. All of a sudden I hit something small and fleshy.

**Hitomi's POV:**

Halfway through lunch I was walking down the old, beat up path bordering the forest while reading my book. I was all alone. Apparently Hinata was sick at home with the flu. Shikamaru was playing a game of Shoji at home with his father, although he asked if I wanted to come and watch I declined, already knowing the outcome. Chōji went out to eat barbeque with his family and also asked me to come. But again I declined not feeling very hungry now.

While I read I heard hurried footfalls coming my way. As I looked up to confront who it was they ran into me. And instead of him falling on me backwards into the pathway we fell…down the hill that was next to us. I clenched my eyes and braced myself for my probably ungraceful and painful landing.

When I opened them I found myself at the bottom of the hill with Sasuke…on top of me. _Oh Kami._ I thought in disbelief. "Um Sasuke, can you get off, you're kinda squishing me." I asked as I squirmed under his weight. "Oh, yea, sorry." He said flustered as he helped me up. "Sorry I bumped into you it's just that I was being chased by all these girls and I wasn't really looking-" He said hurriedly. "It's okay, I'm not hurt. We should get going; class is going to start soon." I said trying to calm the worried boy down.

So we went to class and the rest of the day went on like normal but the incident never leaving my mind. Unbeknownst to me Sasuke would never forget either.


	6. 7 Years Later

7 Year Timeskip

Right now I'm in class, bored out of my mind while Iruka-sensei droned on about something I already knew. _Oh Kami please somebody, anybody, make it stop! _I thought as I practically moaned in my head. Suddenly two male Jōnin in their early twenties rushed into the room and whispered something into sensei's ear. _Thank you Kami!_ Seconds later we- and probably the whole village- heard Iruka yell, "HE DID WHAT?" He practically exploded, with the whole red in the face thing. After a second of seething he quickly composed himself as he turned to the class and said sternly, "I'll be right back class, behave." He stressed the last word and watched over use warily before he ran out the door with the other two Jōnin.

The moment the door slammed shut everyone started screaming at the top of their lungs talking. "Ugh can they be any louder?" I asked sarcastically as I rubbed my temples. I could already feel a migraine coming on. Hinata giggled at my anguish as Shikamaru nodded in agreement while Chōji tried to block out everyone by eating his chips.

A few minutes later (although it felt like an eternity) Iruka-sensei came in the classroom dragging Naruto in by his collar to the front of the classroom, where he began to scream his head off at Naruto. "Listen Naruto you failed the last final exam and the exam before that you shouldn't be fooling around!" At that Naruto turned his head away and snorted. "Ok class today we'll be reviewing the art of transformation and you all have Naruto to thank for that. Everybody get in line." Iruka called out as he pointed off to the side. All the while people grumbled things like 'Stupid Uzumaki kid' as they stood in line.

"First, Sakura Haruno." Iruka called, and in response Sakura obediently walked up to him, an air of confidence surrounding her the whole time. "Sakura Haruno going! Henge" She all but yelled as a cloud of smoke covered her. Only to reveal Iruka standing in Sakura's place instead of herself. The only difference between the two Irukas was that the new one was a bit shorter and plumper and had a smaller scar that crossed their nose. After a few seconds smoke again erupted around the second Iruka and was replaced with a smirking Sakura. "Good job Sakura." Iruka-sensei praised as Sakura quickly turned around and looked at Sasuke with hopeful eyes. "I did it. Oh Sasuke did you see that?" She asked as Sasuke rolled his eyes at her futile attempt in impressing him.

"Next, Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka called as Sasuke slowly made his way over to him, gave him the once over and said, "Hn, transform." Again smoke spread around him only to be replaced by another Iruka. This time there were little too no flaws. The only thing standing out was his slouched posture and bored expression. "Good. Next, Sakai Murusaki." Iruka called after Sasuke went back to his seat.

I had spaced out around that point in time, already knowing what I needed to do and not wanting to have to bore myself. I thought about what Naruto could have done to make everyone so upset. _It's probably nothing too big. It's probably just something really stupid._ I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard my name being called, "Ok, next Hitomi." As I walked up to him I noticed that most of the kids that were once in line with me were now back in their seats watching with mild interest. I quickly studied his features, and when I had him memorized I made the correct handsign and whispered, "Transform". The moment I said the word smoke spread around me, clouding my vision.

When the smoke finally cleared I felt taller, and more muscular. When I looked around I found Iruka-sensei looking at me with pride as he said, "Very good Hitomi." As I lifted the jutsu I walked up the steps and up to my desk when Iruka called, "Next, Naruto Uzumaki." "Henge!" He exclaimed as the usual smoke enveloped him. But instead of an Iruka look-alike there was a tall, blonde, naked girl standing in Naruto's place in a very suggestive pose as swirling clouds covered her more private parts. The moment Iruka-sensei saw this he- in a most comical fashion- flew back from the force of his massive nosebleed. _Ugh, guys are idiots. But I have to say, that was pretty funny. _ "Hahaha, how did you like that, I call it my Sexy No Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he pointed proudly at Iruka-sensei. "You idiot, don't invent such a dumb jutsu!" He yelled after getting up off the floor with pieces of tissues shoved up his nose to stop the flow of blood. "Ok, class dismissed you can all go. Except you Naruto." Iruka sighed after he finished berating the orange clad boy who looked indifferent about his current predicament.

As I started packing my stuff away I heard my quiet best friend ask me a question, "Hey Hitomi do you want to sleepover my house tonight?" When we were younger Hinata used to stutter over every other word. Thankfully Chōji, Shikamaru, and I were able to make her stop by giving the self-confidence she was lacking. Unfortunately this was only the case with us and would go back to stuttering the moment someone came to us. "Sure let me just ask Sarutobi if I can." I stated as we walked down the road to my house.

After walking to my house and getting permission to sleep over, Hinata and I walked to her house to train and talk about what would await the next day.


	7. Graduation Day

"Hitomi" Called a faraway voice.

"Hitomi"_ There it is again._

"Hitomi wake up." _Who is that?_

"Come on Hitomi, get up!"

I jerked out of my slumber to be greeted by Hinata's face up close to mine as she shook me awake.

"Hm, what's going on?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes, trying to get the sand out of them.

"Hitomi we over slept and we have the final exam today!" She exclaimed as she ran around her room looking for clean articles of clothing.

"Kuso" I cursed as I ran over to my bag and changed clothes, all traces of sleep disappeared off my face as I ran around trying to get my stuff together.

By the time we were done gathering our stuff we ran out the door with apples stuffed in our mouths for breakfast with 10 minutes until class started.

When we finally got to our class we were done with our apples and a few minutes late to class. Just as we opened the door we heard our names being called and the whole class staring at us with confused and amused expressions at our slightly reddened faces and our loud panting.

"Here" We said simultaneously after we had finally caught our breath and sat down in our seats.

"Ok class today we will be starting the final exam, when I call your name go into the next room to take the exam." Iruka-sensei said as he and Mizuki-sensei both went into the next room.

Chōji, Shikamaru, Hinata and I had been talking ever since then until one by one they left to take the exam, each getting wished good luck. That is until I was all alone. So for the time being I opted for gazing out the window, lost in my thoughts.

"Hitomi" I heard as I snapped out of my thoughts.

I quickly glanced around to find that I was the only one left. Since no one knew my last name, and I had kindly refused taking on Sarutobi as my surname, I was always put last in the line for everything. So seeing that everyone that was once in the classroom was not there didn't really worry me too much.

_Let's get this over with._ I thought as I crossed the now empty classroom and into the next one to see Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei in there with a table full of headbands of different colors and lengths.

"Ok Hitomi all you need to do is make three clones to graduate." Mizuki said with a creepy grin encouraging smile.

_I already knew that, we went over it a millions times during class._ I thought with minor annoyance. "Ok I got it." I said, succeeding in keeping my annoyance out of my voice.

"Bunshin no Jutsu" I exclaimed as I made the Ram, Snake, and Tiger hand signs in that order.

The moment I finished making the hand signs three puffs of smoke erupted on both of my sides. When the smoke had finally cleared away there stood three perfect copies of me staring absentmindedly around the room. After holding the jutsu for a few more moments I let it drop and watched as smoke appeared again, only to disappear again with the clones.

"Great Hitomi, now pick a headband, you are now officially a Konoha shinobi." Iruka said as he smiled proudly at me.

"Thanks" I said as I let a smile grace my face as I picked up a short, black headband from the table and tied it around my neck as a choker.

When I walked outside I looked around and saw all the kids with their families getting congratulated. All except Sasuke, who was leaning against a fence looking indifferent about everything. And Naruto, who sat on the swing all by himself, without a headband.

As I started heading toward him I heard some women mention Naruto, so I stopped to listen.

"Look at that one." A woman said as she pointed at Naruto.

"It's that boy. I hear he's the only one that failed." "Serves him right." They sneered as they glared at him.

"Imagine what would happen if he became a shinobi." The other one said, going along with the other one.

"Isn't that the boy who is actually-" She was cut off as the other one said, "Hey! We're not supposed to talk about that."

Finally having enough of their nonsense I pushed my way through them, earning dirty looks from both of them, and over to Naruto.

As I neared him he looked up and saw me. "Go ahead, laugh because I didn't get a headband, and be disgusted with me, just like everyone else." He said as he sighed sadly.

"You're right I am disgusted but not for the same reason as everyone else, whatever it may be. I'm disgusted because you're just sitting here. If you really want a headband you should go practice the jutsu and prove to Iruka-sensei that you deserve a headband." I said with a kind but stern expression.

"Yeah you're right. Hey thanks Hitomi, you know you're pretty nice." He said as he smiled at me.

"Thanks" I said with a small smirk. "Well I gotta go, see ya." I said with a small wave as I turned to leave.

"Ok bye Hitomi." He said smiling his goofy smile.

_Yes, Mission Cheer up the Knucklehead was a success. _I thought with a smirk.

As I headed home I couldn't help but think about tomorrow. _Tomorrow we get paired into teams. I hope I'm with Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chōji. Ugh, tomorrow is gonna be a crazy day, I can just feel it._


	8. Meet Your New Team!

As the sun peaked through my curtains I couldn't help but groan. Yes morning had come, unfortunately.

"Curse you sun." I said lazily as I slowly turned over and raised my arm over my eyes in a futile attempt to block out the stupid sun.

"Alright fine I'll get up." I relented as I noticed that I was losing the battle.

My drowsy eyes glanced over to the clock that was stationed on top of the bedside table to my left before snapping to attention and ran around my room trying to get my stuff together as I yelled, "I going to be late!"

The reason: I had 10 minutes to get to class...and it was a 10 minute walk.

While taking a minute shower, getting dressed, and brushing my teeth I stretched my stiff muscles and muttered horrible things, things about destroying my stupid alarm clock for waking me up late…again.

By the time I was done I ran out the door with my hair in disarray and an apple in my mouth as I tugged on my boot.

I ran my fastest toward the academy and to class, where I then proceeded to knock down the door and blurt out, "Sorry I'm late sir, I overslept." with my hand out in front of me.

"You're not late, if anything you're early." A voice to my left said.

As I glanced around the room I noticed it empty, save for the one person to my left. That person was Sasuke Uchiha.

_Oh failure._ I thought as I face palmed.

I quickly made my way to my desk to save myself from any further embarrassment. I spared a glance at the clock to find that it was 7:30…and class starts at 8:00. I had apparently read the clock wrong in my sleepy stupor.

_I could have slept longer._ I thought as I mentally anime cried at my loss of sleep and my stupidity.

In the next thirty minutes kids slowly started pouring in until everyone but the teacher was here. Well everyone except Naruto.

_Poor little guy._ I thought as Shikamaru and I had a lazy staring contest which worked best in the morning, or in Shikamaru's case, whenever. Yup we truly have no life.

I heard the door open and close and, thinking it was Iruka-sensei, looked away, making Shikamaru the winner of this stupid contest. And instead of it being Iruka-sensei it was…Naruto?

As he looked around the room he spots me and rushes over and says, "Hey Hitomi notice anything different about me?" He asked in a goofy smile.

"Yea you got a headband, good job." I said as I snapped out of my sleepy stupor.

"Thanks, I took your advice and showed him what I can do." He said proudly as he put his hands on his hips.

"Cool but what happened?"

"Well it all started-" He was cut off by loud footsteps and yelling coming towards the door. And in my confused state Naruto had walked away and took the empty seat next to Sasuke.

As the footsteps got closer the bickering got closer until I could hear, "Ha, take that Ino-pig! I got in first!" This was followed by two bodies coming in through the door.

The one who had talked first had a head full of long, bubblegum pink hair with emerald green eyes. She wore a chinese red dress that ended just below her knees with green spandex shorts underneath and her headband tied proudly around her head as, well, a headband. Her dress flowed with her as she raced into the room with her blonde counterpart.

The other girl had long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail with one long bang flipped over her right eye. Her pupil-less blue eyes set in a glare towards her opponent. She wore a sleeve-less, high collar, purple belly-like top with bandages underneath covering her stomach, her headband slung across her waist like a belt over a long purple, side-slit skirt with bandages covering her thighs acting as shorts.

Their names were Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka. Even though they had once been best friends they were now bitter rivals. This was caused by both of them having crushes on Sasuke.

"No way my foot was in before your big forehead Billboard-brow." Ino retorted as she turned to Sakura as if to attack her.

But Sakura was too busy to talk back to her, seeing as she was staring admiringly in…Naruto's direction?

_What? No, that can't be right!_ I thought as I stared bewildered from Sakura to Naruto a couple of times.

As Sakura walked toward Naruto he started to blush furiously and sweat from his nervousness. As she came within a few feet of him he finally worked up enough courage to talk to her.

"Hey Sakura-"

"Move Naruto!"

Only for her to push him aside for a chance to be with Sasuke.

_Of course_

"Hi Sasuke is this seat taken?" She asked sweetly as she looked hopefully at him.

His only response to her advances though was a simple eye roll and a grunt.

"Hey I'm going to sit next to Sasuke!" Ino cried as she rushed over and grabbed Sakura by the arm.

_Oh boy, not again._

"Yeah right. First come, first served!" Sakura smugly replied as she ripped her arm from Ino.

"_I_ got in the classroom first!"

"If that's the case then I came first!" Some random girl came over and protested.

"No I came first!" Came another.

_Did everyone forget that I was the one that got here first? Stupid clock._

And thus the fight over Sasuke ensued. Every fangirl in the class, which was every girl except Hinata and I, gathered around his desk to fight over who sat next to him.

"This is so sad." I whispered to Hinata as she giggled at the scene.

All of a sudden, from the corner of my eye, I saw Naruto jump up on top of Sasuke's desk, staring at him with squinty eyes.

_What is that nimrod doing now? He's gonna hurt himself._ I thought as I mentally mushroom-sighed.

"Naruto! Don't glare at Sasuke!" Sakura screeched as all the other fangirls congregated together to insult Naruto and cheer Sasuke into a fight.

Their glaring had only gotten worse as a result. And I swear I could practically see lightning shooting from their eyes at each other.

_This cannot end well._

Then of course it all went downhill from there. The boy in the desk in front of them had, by mistake elbowed Naruto in the back which caused him to fall…on Sasuke's lips.

The whole class froze and stared at their lip lock. That is until they broke from each other and started coughing and spitting. That was when the fangirls gathered around Naruto as he moaned about his mouth rotting.

"What? I feel rage…" Naruto looked up only to find a group of severely pissed off fangirls.

"I-It was an accident!" Naruto tried to explain as they advanced.

"Cool it guys. Does it look like he enjoyed the kiss?" I asked as I came to his defense. I winked at him to send my message across. Reading it loud and clear he started writhing on the floor moaning and groaning about dying from the awful experience as he started choking himself.

Thankfully we were saved from a horrible fate as we heard the door start to open. Everyone standing quickly scrambled to their seats in time when Iruka came in.

"As of today, you all have become full-fledged ninjas. However, you're still Genin. The tough part is still to come! From here on, you'll be in a squad of three and carry out your missions under your Jōnin teachers. But there will be one team of four though because of the uneven amount of students." Iruka-sensei explained to us.

_Please be with Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chōji. Please!_

"The groups are, Team 1-" And at this point I didn't care so I had basically dozed off to catch up on the sleep I had missed this morning. That is until I heard someone yell.

"Huh what happened?" I murmured as I rubbed my eyes.

"He just assigned team 7; Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke." Hinata replied.

"Ha, the crazy team. I would hate to be in it." I said as we all shared a laugh.

"And because of the uneven number of students Team 7 will have another person-"

_Please not me. Please not me._ I chanted over and over in my head.

"Hitomi"

_Son of a bitch_

My friends' laughter-that was caused at my expense- was cut short when Iruka continued on his list.

"Team 8; Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame."

As Iruka called out the next group Ino stared bad mouthing Shikamaru and saying how she would hate being in a group with him. That is, until Iruka-sensei called out the next team.

"Ok Team 10; Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Chōji Akimichi."

"It appears we've been grouped together." Shikamaru said smugly.

"Iruka-sensei why does an outstanding ninja like me have to be on the same team as that bum?" Naruto exclaimed as he stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

"Because Naruto you had the lowest grades in the class while Sasuke had the second highest grades. So to make up for your low grade we had to combine you and our two best students to average you in." Iruka explained exasperatedly.

"So wait, then who's the other best student? Is it Sakura?"

_Gee, thanks Naruto._

"No, our best student is Hitomi. She has the highest grade in the class." Iruka said as everyone stared at me.

_Thank you photographic memory._

"Ok class you can go to lunch, when you come back you meet your senseis."

And with that everyone made a beeline toward the door for their last lunch with their friends. So Chōji, Hinata, Shikamaru and I went to our favorite spot to enjoy our last stress free lunch together.

"So that's how I got my headband!" Naruto exclaimed proudly after he told me what had happened yesterday after I had left.

_So that's why I found Sarutobi like that last night._ I thought as I sweatdropped, remembering what had happened last night.

**Flashback:**

I had woken up in the middle of the night for a glass of water seeing as my throat was unusually dry. As I walked down the halls towards my room I saw a strange sight, Sarutobi lying on the floor looking pale as blood trickled from his nose while he muttered incomprehensible things. Deciding that it would be best for me not to question it I brought him to his room, laid him on his bed and went back to my room for some sleep.

**End of Flashback:**

This flashback was brought on because Naruto had said that he had used his Sexy no Jutsu to stall Sarutobi long enough for him to get the scroll.

"He's late." Naruto moaned as he poked his out the door to look down the hall.

"Naruto, stay still." Sakura reprimanded.

"Why's it that only our squad's teacher's late? The other squads have gone off somewhere with their new senseis, and Iruka-sensei's also left." Naruto complained as he pulled his head back in.

"Don't look at me. I have no clue." I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"Hey, what're you doing Naruto?" Sakura yelled as she gained mine and Sasuke's attention.

Apparently Naruto had wedged an eraser in between the door so when someone opened the door it would fall of them.

"It'll be his fault because he's late." He said proudly as he hopped down from the stool he was using.

"Man! You're asking for it!" Sakura yelled at Naruto, even though I could see that she was secretly enjoying the prank.

"A Jōnin wouldn't get caught in such a weak booby trap."

"That's right. You're such an idiot!" Sakura chimed in.

"Leave him alone guys does it really matter?" I asked as I lightly glared at the two of them.

Moments after I had said that a hand popped out from the hallway and grabbed onto the door.

We all watched in anticipation to see who was right.

Next a head popped in but was bopped seconds after by the eraser. He had gray hair in a weird, slanted hair-do, and his head band covered his left eye.

There was a moment of silence where we all just stared at each other trying to take in what just happened. But that moment was broken when Naruto started laughing.

"I got him, I got him!"

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I tried to stop him, but Naruto did it on his own." Sakura defended herself.

_What just happened?_

"How can I put this? As for my first impression of you guys. Well, I hate you. Come with me." He said, and then he led us to the rooftop.

"Let's see. First off, let me have you guys introduce yourselves."

"Introduce ourselves. What should we say?" Sakura asked.

"Your likes, dislikes, your dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that."

"Why don't you tell us about yourself?" Naruto said a bit suspiciously.

"Me? My name's Kakashi Hatake. I don't feel like telling you guys about my likes and dislikes. I've never really thought about my dreams for the future. As for my hobbies, I have many." Kakashi said.

"All we found out was his name." Sakura said annoyed.

"Yeah" Naruto agreed.

"Next is you guys. Let's start with you." Kakashi said as he pointed to Naruto.

Naruto grinned and started to play with his headband. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen, but what I like even more is the ramen from Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei treats me to. What I dislike is the three minutes after pouring hot water in the instant ramen. My hobby is eating and comparing ramen."

_God I'm surprised he hasn't turned into a ramen noodle with the amount he eats._

"And my dream is to surpass the Hokage! So the entire village will acknowledge my existence!" Naruto exclaimed proudly.

"Okay, next."

"I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like…I mean, who I like is… *looks at Sasuke and blushes* And my hobby is, I mean… *looks at Sasuke and giggles* My dream is… *looks at Sasuke and squeals*"

_Stalker_

"And? What about your dislikes?" I could tell Kakashi was getting fed up with all her squealing.

"Naruto!"

This, of course, had earned a few anime tears from Naruto.

"Next."

"My name's…Sasuke Uchiha. I have lots of dislikes, but no likes in particular. And…I don't feel like summing up my ambition as just a dream, but I do have an ambition. The ambition to restore my clan and without fail, to kill a certain man!" He finished off dramatically.

_Drama Queen._

Judging by Naruto's face when Sasuke said 'to kill a certain man' he thought it was him. "Don't worry Naruto, he doesn't mean you. You're not even a man yet!" I said jokingly at the last part.

"Hey!"

"And lastly, you." He said as he pointed at me.

"My name is Hitomi. I like music, reading, and sleeping. I dislike mornings, feeling helpless, and betrayal. My hobbies are training, and being with my friends. My dream…is to protect everyone important to me."

"Good! The four of you are very distinct and interesting. We'll have a mission tomorrow."

"Yes, sir! What kind of mission?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"First we'll do what we can with just five people."

"Nani-nani-nani?"

"A survival exercise."

"A survival exercise?"

"Why are we doing an exercise even though this is supposed to be a mission? We've had more than our share of exercises in the academy!" Sakura complained.

"Isn't it obvious? He wants to test us. Evaluate our skills." I explained.

"She's right. And this is no simple exercise."

"Then what kind of exercise is it?"

The moment after Naruto had uttered that sentence Kakashi started laughing almost uncontrollably.

"Hey! What's so funny, sensei?" Sakura asked accusingly.

"Uh, well, if I tell you, I know you'll chicken out."

"Huh?"

"Of the 28 graduates, only ten will be recognized as Genin ninjas. The remaining 18 will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, this exercise is an extremely difficult test with a failure rate of 66% or higher!"

_He's lying. Iruka-sensei would have said something like that before._ I thought. But judging by everyone else's shocked faces they hadn't figured that out.

"See, see? You got scared!"

"That's crazy! To have suffered that much! T-Then, what was the graduation test for?" Naruto argued.

"Oh, that. It was just to select those who have the potential of becoming Genin."

"Nani?" Naruto yelled disbelievingly.

"Well, that's the way it is. I'll be determining whether you pass or fail. Bring all your ninja tools! We meet at five in the morning." He paused so we could reflect on what he said.

_This is the first obstacle in my way of becoming a great ninja. I better not screw this up._

"Okay! You're dismissed. Oh…and you'd best skip breakfast. You'll throw up." He warned.

_Great_

**Hitomi: My yaoi senses are tingling. (Looks around suspiciously) Aha, I knew it! You two are gay for each other!**

**Naruto & Sasuke: No he/I fell on him/me.**

**Me: Right! Lie all you wants guys but the proof is in the bologna!**

**Hitomi, Naruto & Sasuke: The bologna?**

**Me: Yup ^_^**

**Sasuke: This is just complete random-ness isn't?**

**Hitomi: Isn't it obvious?**

**Fangirls: SAAAAASSSSUUUKKEEEE!**

**All of us: OH SHIT IT'S THE FANGIRLS FROM HELL!**

**Kakashi: Run Sasuke run. Run before they get you!**

**Naruto: Kakashi? When did you get here?**

**Kakashi: Uh I don't know. One second I'm reading Come-Come Paradise and the next I'm here with you losers. Especially her!**

**Me: That hurts man. That hurt right HERE! Anyways, Sayonara mis amigos!**


	9. The Test! Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Hell, I'm not even a Ninja. But if I was a ninja I would be all HI-YEAH! And WHA-CHAM! Anyway, onto another amazing chapter of my brilliant story. (Not really)**

_What sane person wakes up at 4 in the morning?_ I questioned myself as my alarm went off.

Lugging myself out of bed I slowly did my morning routine and left the house at 4:45. When I got to the training ground the sun was just coming up over the horizon. There were only two people there, Sasuke and Sakura.

"Ohayou" I lazily waved to them.

"Ohayou" They said unenthusiastically.

After acknowledging me Sakura went back to doing what she was doing before, staring at Sasuke with hearts in her eyes. Feeling a bit awkward I climbed a tree and started reading my book.

A few minutes later I hear, "Sorry I'm late Kakashi-sensei but I slept right through my alarm clock- hey, where's Kakashi-sensei and Hitomi?"

I looked down and noticed that it was Naruto, as if his screaming didn't give him away.

"I'm up here, Naruto."

"Oh, hi, Hitomi." He said with a goofy smile.

So we sat in silence for the most of five hours with the occasional yelling, hitting, and flirting.

_Ugh, why can't they be quiet?_ I thought as I tried to read my book as Sakura hit Naruto over the head, again!

"Hey, Hitomi, what are you doing?" Naruto asked as he rubbed his newly acquired bump.

"I'm reading a book."

"Oh, what's it about?"

"Don't worry about it. You wouldn't understand." I said as I blushed. (I'll give you three guesses as to what book it is.)

"Oh, ok."

_Weird_

A few minutes later Kakashi came walking towards us, as if he had all the time in the world. "Ohayou"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto yelled angrily.

"Well, you see, a black cat crossed my path. So I had to take a different route." This had only earned him dirty looks. "So anyways,-hm, I'm missing someone." He continued thoughtfully.

_Ha, I'm in a tree and no one can see me _ I thought in sing-song.

"Ok, Hitomi, come down from there." Kakashi said as he pointed at my tree.

_Dammit!_ I thought as I put away my book and jumped down to join the others.

"Alright, I've set this alarm to go off at noon." He said as he put an alarm clock- that he pulled out of nowhere!- on the middle tree stump.

"I have here three small bells. Your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails doesn't get any lunch. Instead, you will be tied to that tree stump, so I can eat your lunch in front of you."

_So that's why he wanted us to go without breakfast!_

"All you need is one bell…apiece. But since there aren't enough to go around, one of you is definitely headed for the stump. And whoever that is will be the first of you to fail. One of you is on your way back to school…and disgrace. You may, if you choose, use shuriken. Attack as though you mean to kill or you'll never stand a chance." He explained calmly.

"But that's so dangerous!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah! You couldn't even dodge an eraser! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Naruto laughed.

"Only the weak speak loudly. Now, let's forget the loser, and we'll start on my signal."

_Ooh, bad move._

Then of course, Naruto, being the hot head of the group, ran at Kakashi with a kunai. Only for Kakashi to grab Naruto's hand and bend it to the back of his neck.

"Not so fast. I didn't say go."

_Woah! I didn't even see him move! So this is an elite shinobi._

"But at least you struck to kill. So, it seems you've begun to respect me. Heh heh, maybe, just maybe, I'm starting to like you four. And now…ready…steady…GO!"

We all jumped away from him and hid. I hid in a tree with plenty of leaves so that I could see him but he couldn't see me. I looked around to try and find the others, and found Naruto standing in the middle of the field.

_You idiot, you're supposed to hide then attack not stand out in the open._

"You may be thinking of the wrong kind of match." Kakashi deadpanned.

"The only thing 'wrong' here is your hairstyle!" Naruto yelled.

_Ooh burn._

Naruto raced towards Kakashi but halted to a stop when he saw Kakashi reach into his back pouch.

"Let me teach you your first ninjutsu skill! Taijutsu: The art of the trained body!"

_Wait, taijutsu is hand-to-hand combat. Why is he reaching for a weapon?_

So he pulls out…Icha Icha Paradise.

_Oh. My. Kami._

"Is something wrong? I thought you were coming for me." Kakashi carelessly as he flipped through his book.

"But, you, I mean, why are you, that's a book!"

"Of course, it's a book. I've been dying to find out how this story ends. Carry on; it shouldn't make any difference in the outcome, considering who I'm up against." He said, never taking his eyes of his book.

"I'm going to rip you apart!" Naruto roared as he rushed at Kakashi, throwing a punch in the process. But it was all in vain, for Kakashi, had caught the punch. So Naruto opted for a kick to the head instead. But missed because Kakashi had ducked down at the last second.

" All right! That's it!" Naruto yelled as he, once again, rushed Kakashi.

"What the…?" He muttered as he realized that Kakashi wasn't there anymore.

"Showing your back so many times is very poor ninjutsu…baka." Kakashi said from behind him.

_When did he get behind Naruto? He moved so fast I couldn't even see him! Oh no, he's using the tiger handsign! But he couldn't be! That's a too advanced technique to use against Naruto!_

"Naruto! Get out of there! You'll be killed!" Sakura yelled, thinking the same thing as me.

"Too late." Kakashi taunted before getting a dangerous look in his eye.

"Konohagakure village's most secret and most sacred technique! One thousand years of death!" Kakashi yelled as he…poked Naruto's butt, making him fly into the water.

_That's Konoha's most secret and most sacred technique? An over glorified poke to the butt? But anyways, this doesn't make any sense, why would they put 4 genin up against a Jōnin, I mean maybe I could take him by myself, but I don't know about the others. Naruto is pretty much doomed, Sakura's really only brains and no brawn, while Sasuke would have about just as big of a chance as me. But if we work together we would have a better chance of taking him down._

So I looked around for the others and found Sasuke in a tree to my left and Sakura in a bush to right.

All of a sudden I heard a splash coming from the lake, and out zoomed two shuriken towards Kakashi. But he easily caught them as he chuckled over his book.

Moments later Naruto crawled out of the lake, coughing out any water he might have inhaled.

"Well? What's the hold up? Get one of these bells by noon, or you'll have no lunch!"

"Duh! I know that!" Naruto said annoyed.

"You claim to want to surpass Lord Hokage, but you've already run out of steam."

"I can fight no matter how hungry I am! I just wasn't ready, that's all!" Naruto defended as his stomach growled.

All of a sudden eight Narutos jumped up out of the lake and ran to Kakashi.

"Hahah! My specialty! Kage Bunshin no jutsu! Get ready! Now you have to face a lot more than just one of me!"

_So this is the technique he was talking about._ I thought with wide eyes.

"They're not illusions, but actual multiple flesh-and-blood bodies!" Kakashi said slightly amazed.

"But at your level you couldn't be strong enough to keep this up for more than a minute! You talk a good game…but you're still only Naruto! You're a one trick pony who hasn't got what it takes to win! He continued.

"N-Nani? Behind me!" He yelled startled as Naruto jumped on his back.

"Heh heh heh! Nice to see your back sensei! I isolated one of my shadow clones and sent it out of the water posing as me. While I circled around behind you! Here's payback for what you did to me! This must be hard on you, so I'll go easy. One good hit is all I want."

_I wouldn't get too cocky, Naruto. You may have a good hold on him, but you don't know what kind of tricks he may have up his sleeve._

"Relax! I told you, I'm only gonna hit you once!" Naruto said as he wound up his arm. Only to clock one of his clones in the face. Which led to one big fight amongst themselves over which one of them was Kakashi. Finally having the brilliant idea of dropping the jutsu he noticed that Kakashi wasn't one of them after all.

_So, he used the Kawarimi no Jutsu on one of Naruto's clones. Smart._

After recovering from his many bumps and bruises he discovered a bell to his right, where he then proceeded to pick it up.

_No you idiot! Don't pick it up! It's obviously a trap!_

And sure enough he tries to pick it up but winds up dangling from a rope in the tree above him. And out pops Kakashi below him.

"You used your technique well, but so did I and you were the one who got caught. And to be caught in such an obvious trap was stupid!" He said as he bent down to pick up the bell.

"Shinobi read the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings!"

"I know that!" Naruto retorted stubbornly.

"Uh, no you don't. That's why I'm saying it. Naruto, you…" Kakashi was cut off by a face full of kunai and shuriken, courtesy of Sasuke.

"Holy crap!" "Whoa! Whoa! No way! That was overkill, Sasuke!" Naruto and I said at the same time.

But, fortunately, Kakashi had used the Kawarimi no Jutsu at the last minute. So instead of getting Kakashi, Sasuke had impaled a log. (Logged!) Unfortunately, Kakashi now knew our spots.

_Dammit, Sasuke! Why would you even do that?_

So to avoid getting caught I quickly jumped away to a bush a little ways off. Checking to see if the coast was clear I ventured out over to where Naruto was, just in time to see him cut himself down…and get caught in another trap.

"Hey, Naruto, want to work together? It'll be easier to get a bell if we work as a team." I offered as I cut him down from the second trap.

"No way, I can do it myself. Besides I want to show everyone how strong I am!' he exclaimed before running off.

_You knucklehead, you still haven't realized that we need to use teamwork._

After wandering around aimlessly for a while I suddenly hear a shriek ring throughout the forest.

_And that would be Sakura._ I thought as I rushed to the source of the shriek. But what welcomed me was a strange sight. Sakura was passed out on the ground practically foaming at the mouth, with tears streaming down her face.

"What the hell did she see to make her freak out so badly? A ghost?" I asked myself as I spent the better of five minutes trying to wake her up. When she finally woke up she sat up and looked around frantically while she muttered something about protecting Sasuke before running off.

"What! No 'thank you'?" I called after her.

_There's another one who won't listen to me. Hopefully Sasuke will understand and will want to team up. But knowing him, probably not._

I started jumping from tree to tree looking for Sasuke. I finally found him crouched in a tree looking for Kakashi. So I went behind him, tapped him on the shoulder-which had earned a mini spazz from him- and put my finger to my lips in the universal symbol to keep quiet.

"Do you want to work together? I could even be the distraction." I said, swallowing my pride to try and convince him.

"No, you would just slow me down." He said before jumping away.

_Slow him down! Who the hell does he think he is? I seem to remember getting better grades than him. Besides, I can probably kick his ass any day of the week!_ I ranted in my mind.

"Well, since nobody's going to help me, I guess I'm on my own." I sighed.

**Me: Cliffhanger!**

**Hitomi: What? You're going to cut off just before my big fight?**

**ME: Well yea. Adding that to this chapter would take forever (which I already made the mistake of doing) so I decided to save it for the next chapter. Besides you should be happy that I'm posting it now instead of waiting another few months. But seriously guys sorry for taking so long, I had to keep borrowing the manga from the library.**

**Hitomi: Liar, you were just being lazy! *points at me dramatically***

**Me: Shhhhh! Don't tell them that! Anyway I've been getting into some more anime, stuff like Soul Eater and Hetalia that I might make stories for. But don't worry I'm going to keep updating this one.**

**Sasuke: Not very often if you ask me.**

**Me: Wait, what are you doing here? Oh who cares get out, go on shoo. No one asked you anyways. *pouts***

**Sasuke: Hn, whatever.**

**Me: That's not even a real word.**

**Hitomi: I second that.**

**Me: Ha! Well anyways guys until next time. Sayonara. XD**


End file.
